so she managed not to reveal so much as a flicker of her lashes. “Hard work rarely goes to waste.”
His smile faded, replaced by cold calculation. “You are aware that statehood is just around the corner for our humble little territory? Helena is in the running for state capital. Thanks to the railroad, nice Christian folks are moving here and they don’t want to see an establishment such as this in our midst. Surely you can see the benefit of having a friend like me.”
Rumors were that Harvey would be elected to the legislature; it was the main reason she tolerated his odious presence. She couldn’t afford to alienate anyone with political clout. “But I thought we were friends,” she countered.
He shrugged, his cold gaze sliding over her exposed shoulders and down farther in a slow glide that made her want to scrub away the filth he’d left behind. “We could be closer, Miss Winters. Much closer. I could help you keep everything you’ve worked for, and you could help me.”
She didn’t even want to entertain the thought of what helping him would entail. “I think the fine people of Helena will come to understand how much good I do for the town. My taxes and personal donations have contributed to the school that was recently built.”
He laughed. “Money only goes so far. The reputation and honor of our fair city is at stake, particularly when it comes time to vote for statehood. Why, a notorious place such as this might not be able to exist in a law-abiding state.”
“Then the fate of Victoria House is sealed either way,” she said with a shrug of her shoulder.
“Ah, but I have friends, Miss Winters. And soon I’ll have influence. If we were...friends...I could extend that influence to you.” He licked his lips, leaving them wet and shining in the light of the candle flickering on the table between them.
She swallowed past the bile that threatened to rise in the back of her throat, and opened her mouth to tell him in her sweetest voice that no way in hell would she ever be that sort of friend to him. Because she was a madam, men often assumed incorrectly that she was also for sale and she had to set them straight. Thankfully, Able intervened before she said something foolish and made an enemy they didn’t need.
“Miss Winters.” His large frame took up nearly the entire doorway of the dining room. “You’re needed upstairs.”
He had a sixth sense when it came to saving her. It had been that way ever since they escaped together twelve years earlier. She simply wouldn’t have made it out of that house in the South Carolina low country all the way to Helena had he not almost literally carried her the entire way.
“Excuse me, Mr. Harvey. Duty calls. It’s been a pleasure.” She rose and nearly gasped audibly when the man leaned forward and grabbed her wrist. No one ever touched her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Able step into the room, ready if he was needed.
“Think about what I’ve said, Glory. You may not have that long to make up your mind,” Harvey said. His eyes flashed with cruelty as he let her go just as Able came to a stop next to his chair.
“Is that a threat?” She bit the words out through clenched teeth.
“Not at all.” He grinned, but it wasn’t the least bit friendly. “Merely an observation of things to come.”
“Good evening, Mr. Harvey.” Without another word—as much as she hated him and all he stood for, she wasn’t willing to make Harvey an enemy—she strode out of the room with Able close behind her.
“Thank you for intervening,” she whispered once they’d walked far enough down the hallway to not be overheard.
Able made a grumbling noise in the back of his throat. “I’ve never liked that man. Don’t trust him.”
“You and me both.” She opened the door leading to the servants’ quarters in the back of the house and paused to make sure no one followed them. Closing the door behind them after Able had stepped inside, she said, “He wants Victoria House.”
Able drew in a sharp breath through his nose. “He won’t get it.” The light of the electric wall sconce reflected off his medium-brown skin, revealing a brow that was smooth and not furrowed in worry. His dark eyes were calm. Quiet and sensible, he’d become the barometer against which she measured the scope of their problems. There wouldn’t be reason to worry until he was worried.
Nodding her agreement, she said, “It’s nothing we haven’t faced before.” A couple of years ago they’d faced a similar threat, only this one had been a group of investors looking to purchase the place from her at a value far below market. Little had they known that Able was part owner and any decision she made would have to be corroborated by him. Once they’d found out they’d resorted to force instead of seduction. In the end, they’d dealt with those men and she had confidence that Harvey could be handled as well.
“Is everything else going well?” she asked.
“Fine. We’re a little busier because of the faro tournament across the road, but everyone is behaving themselves.”
“In that case, I’ll go get a little work done in my study and give Harvey some time to leave. Let me know if I’m needed.” Able agreed, and Glory took the back stairs up to her study on the mansion’s third floor. The top floor was private. Her apartment was attached to her study and the other ladies who lived at Victoria House full-time had rooms there. It wasn’t decorated quite as ostentatiously as the rest of the house. The wall color was a soft cream with a blue-and-gold runner softening her steps in the hallway. Each door boasted a wreath or some other decorative trinket that reflected the resident’s personality. In short, this floor felt like home and was a respite from the bustle of the rest of the house.
Up here the William Harveys of the world felt far away. Glory let out a breath, already anticipating the nice long soak in her bathtub she’d take when the evening was over. It seemed like the nights were getting longer, or maybe she was simply getting older. She’d be thirty in a couple of years, which didn’t seem particularly old, but this wasn’t where she’d imagined herself at this point. Life was strange in that way. Nothing ever seemed to happen the way she meant for it to happen, but she’d learned that it could still be good. She had about a million things to be thankful for, not the least of which were security and independence. It was more than she’d had a decade ago.
She was smiling when she approached her study, but the smile faltered when she realized that the door wasn’t latched. A gentle nudge revealed that her assistant’s desk sat empty. Glory turned on the wall sconce to reveal that no one was in the antechamber at all. How odd. Charlotte, her assistant, always closed up when she finished her work for the evening. A stack of correspondence ready to post the next morning sat on the corner of Charlotte’s small desk, exactly as she’d left them. It was possible that Charlotte had forgotten to lock up, but a strange sense of foreboding made her stomach tumble.
Glory took in a deep breath, consciously avoiding looking across the room at the door that led to her study. Glory was the only person with a key to that door. If it was open then it meant that someone had broken in and she’d have to face that her sanctuary wasn’t really a sanctuary at all. But she was being silly. Of course it was locked. To prove it to herself she put her hand into the hidden pocket of her skirt and wrapped her fingers around the warm metal of the key. It was still safely with her. Charlotte had simply forgotten to close the door to the hallway.
Her heart pounding, she turned toward her door. It was mercifully closed. An exhale of relief left her feeling deflated and weak. She
